Golf practice, arm restraint



Oct. 1, 1957 R. L. HEAToN 2,808,267

GOLF: PRACTICE, VARM RESTRAINT United States Patent 2,808,267 GOLFPRACTICE, ARM REs'rRAlNT Robert L. Heaton, Oak Park, Ill.

Application April 11, 1955, Serial No. 500,433 2 claims. (c1. 273-189)This invention relates to golfing equipment and particularly toequipment for improving the golfers execution of a conventional golfstroke. f

In the usual golf stroke there are of course many details of executionor performance that are considered by golfers to be important inattaining maximum control and accuracy in the golf shot. One suchfeature or element that requires extreme care is the speed and extent ofthe back swing involved in a golf stroke, it being found that excessivespeed or excessive length in the back swing is detrimental to theattainment of the desired perfection in the resulting shot. It istherefore the primary objectY of the present invention to enable theback swing portion of a golf stroke to be corrected and controlled, andan object related to the foregoing is to enable this to be accomplishedby means of a simple and effective character.

More specifically it is an object of this invention to atord a harnessthat may be worn by a golfer which will so effect the movements of oneof his arms that the back swing action will be eifectually controlled asto both speed and extent, and a related object is to afford such aharness that is simple and inexpensive and which may be incorporated onor in a conventional T-shirt or the like.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent as the disclosure isread in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a back view of a golfer wearing a T-shirt embodying thegolfers harness of the present invention;

Fig. 42 is a view similar to Fig. l and showingthe golfer with his armspositioned at the upper end of their back swing movement;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged back view of the T-shirt shown in Fig. l;

Figs. 4 and 4B are fragmentary plan views showing one of the elasticbands of the harness attached to the garment by diiferent types ofsewing;

Fig. 4A is a cross-sectional View on the line 4A-4A of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing an alternative form of the harnessmade a separate unit.

For purposes of disclosure the invention is herein illustrated in Figs.l to 4 as embodied in a golfers harness 10 that is fastened to and formsa part of a short-sleeved T-shirt 11 which when worn by a golfer servesto properly position and relate the harness to the golfers body andarms. Under the present invention the speed and extent of the back swingis controlled by the application through the harness 10 of a resilientforce that yieldingly restrains the arm that moves upwardly andlaterally across the golfers chest in the course of a back swing. In thespecification and claims, this arm will be designated the forward armand the other arm will be designated the rearward arm. Thus the left armis the forward arm and is restrained in a right hand golf stroke whilethe right arm is the forward arm and must be restrained in the course ofa left hand golf stroke. As herein shown, the

2,808,267 Patented Oct. 1, 1957 ice V2 harness 10 is constructed for useby right Ahanded golfers, and will be so described hereinafter, but itis clear that the same structure may be afforded in a reversed relationfor use by left handed golfers.

As shown particularly in Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings, the harness 10,in its right hand embodiment, comprises an elongated stretchable member12 formed from a material such as woven elastic and so disposed that itmay extend generally horizontally across the upper portion of the usersback from a lirst point adjacent the rearward or right armpit to asecond point on the inside rear face of the users forward or left arm,and means are alforded in association with the elastic member 12 foranchoring the member at the respective points to the body and the leftarm of the user. The anchoring means at the Iirst such point comprisesan anchoring band 14 which may encircle the users right arm at theshoulder, and this band 14 is preferably made from an elastic materialsuch as that from which the member 12 is made, and the adjacent end ofthe band 14 and the member 12 are iirmly secured together as bystitching at 14S. At its other end the stretchable member 12r has ananchoring means in the formvof an elastic anchoring band 16 secured rmlyto the adjacent end of the member 12 as by stitching at 16S.

The anchoring band 16 is sized to have a relatively snug t on the usersleft upper arm, thus to enable the anchoring band 16 to be located onthe upper arm in downwardly spaced relation with respect to theshoulder. The length of the stretchable member 12 is such that the leftarm of the user may be moved freely so long as the left arm remainsrelatively close to its normal depending position, or in other words,the member 12 is of such a length that it is unstretched or untensionedunder such normal circumstances.

The location of the anchoring band 16 is such, however, that when theleft arm of the userl is moved forwardly and upwardly, and to someextent laterally across the chest of the user, the member 12 isstretched, and thus the member 12 exerts a progressively increasingyielding restraining force on the golfers left arm as the back swingmotion takes place. This yielding restraining action has been found inuse to be particularly effective in causing the golfer to properly limitthe speed and extent of the back swing of a golf stroke, and this resulthas been achieved with both novice and experienced golfers.

In the form shown in Figs. 1 to 4 the harness 10 is formed from a singlelength of woven elastic so that the transverse stretchable member 12 isafforded by a double thickness of elastic and the two anchoring loops 14and 16 are provided as continuations of this-double thickness member 12.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 4 the association ofthe harness with an upper garment such as the T-shirt 11 serves toassure proper location of the harness 10 on and with respect to thegolfers body, and hence the employment of the present invention issimpliiied. The harness 10 may of course be secured to the shirt 11 indifferent ways, and as shown in Figs. 4 and 4A this is accomplished byparallel lines of stitching 18 of elastic thread, or as shown in Fig.4B, by similar lines of zig-zag stitching 18Z made with non-elastic orconventional thread. Where the garment 11 is of a stretchable materialsuch as knitted fabrics, the anchoring bands 14 and 16 may be stitchedto the garment throughout their entirelength, the band 14 being locatedat substantially the rearward or right hand shoulder seam, while theband 16 is located at the lower end of the left or forward sleeve. Withsuch a stretchable garment 11, the major portion of the member 12 may besimilarly sewn to the back of the garment, the intermediate web portion12W thereof being left free so that it may extend fromthe back of thegarment to the lower end of the left sleeve.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. S of the drawings theinvention is illustrated as embodied in a golfers harness 110 that ismade up and Worn independentlyofgthe golfers clothing. The harness `110has an elongated member 1-1Zrof stretchable or elastic material andhas'anchoring means in theform-of anchoring loops 114 and 116 attachedto opposite 4ends of the member 112as by stitching at 1148 and n116S.The harness 110 is Worn in the relationship hereinbefore described, inrespect tothe harness 10, and the basic functioning Ais the same. Theindependent harness 110, however, has the advantage that it isreversible, and need not be made in right and left hand embodimentswasis the case with the form of the invention shown in Figs. l to 4. l

, From the foregoing description it kwill be apparent thattherfpresentginvention enables the speed and extent of a ,golters backswing tobe governed and controlled, and that this is accomplished Ybymeans of a simple character.

While I have illustrated and described only two embodiments of myinvention, `it is to Vbe understood that my invention is not limited tothe precise forms shown but includes all modifications, variations, andequivalents coming within the scope of the appended claims.

. I claim:

1. In golfing equipment, a shirt adapted to be worn by a -golfer andmade from stretchable material and cling and secureduto the forwardsleeve of said shirt in downwardly spaced relation Mtotheforward'shoulder portion thereof, and an elongated stretchable strapmember connected between said rst and second anchoring means andextended across the back of said shirt.

2. In goliers equipment for improving a golfers back swing action, ashirt made from stretchable material and having a body portion, forwardand rearward shoulders, and forward and rearward sleeves, a harnesscomprising a iirst stretchable anchoring loop encircling and secured tothe rearward shoulder of said-shirt, a longitudinally s'tretchablevstrap member attached at one end to said anchoring loop and extended ina generally horizontal direction across and secured to the back of saidshirt, and a second stretchable anchoring loop attached to the other endof said stretchable strap member and encircling and secured to theforward sleeve of said shirt at a point located downwardly from theshoulder, whereby when the shirt is worn by a golfer, said loops andsaid stretchable member cooperate in yieldingly restricting andrestraining the golfer in the movements that are involved in the backswing of a golf stroke.

yReferences 'Cited lin the le Yof this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

